While it may sound silly, emojis can play a vital role when it comes to the overall SEO strategy of a website or company. Usually, this aspect of online prudence works well among millennials and even the Generation Z. Moreover, Emoji-centric searches are getting their due and will surely be a force to reckon with— in the next few years.

Let’s start with an example when website domains were mere luxuries and no one actually considered them to be as important and instrumental as they are today. The smart and proactive individuals were quick to grab the initiative and bought common domain names— which are now impossible to get. Emojis, are expected to share a similar fate as Google and other search engines have already allowed emoji-searches and other improvements are also fast pouring in.

It is no coincidence that most of the top searches return certain emoji-centric results— be it photos of animals or Bitmoji characters created manually. Moreover, emojis used in tweets are also recognized by Google as a search metric— putting added emphasis on indexing and other aspects related to emoji SEO.

Rise of ‘Emoji’ SEO

Slowly, search engines are recognizing emoji-based results and this is how the SEO significance is getting revealed. If reports are to be believed, 92 percent of consumers make use of emojis. This stat came forth in 2015 which means that the percentage would have increased by now— quite significantly.

That said, most marketing campaigns have introduced emojis as an indispensable part of their strategies— with the usage being beefed up by a staggering 775 percent. One such example would be the popularity of Deadpool’s ‘emoji billboard’. Apart from that, most millennials feel comfortable communicating via emojis, emoticons and other special characters.

Using Emojis in the Next SEO Campaign

There are certain ideas which can help businesses make the best use of emojis— especially keeping the SEO factor in mind. While the most obvious choice would be to make use of emojis in online content, there are other possibilities which can be leveraged. In a nutshell, emojis can be used in diverse marketing campaigns or even in several domains as certain hosting providers have already made provisions for the same.

Addressing Local SEO

Using emoji as a search term can bring out a wide-range of results and some of them can be purely nonsensical. However, the likes of Google can readily interpret the meaning associated with certain direct emojis— like a slice of pizza. If you would add that pizza emoji and add ‘near me’ as the suffix to the same— Google will automatically show up with Pizza joints near your place.

The place which shows up might not even be ranked for an emoji-based search. This is where emojis can make local SEO strategies look better as certain websites are already ranked for the local, emoji-based searches without them even knowing about the same.

However, if you aren’t using direct emojis and searching for something that’s open to interpretations— search results might vary.

Working with Branded Terms

When it comes to looking for branded terms, emojis only reveal results that are synonymous to videos, sale listings and even social media posts. For example, if you search for a cat emoji with the suffix ‘for sale’— only general results will show up instead of actual listings.

Searching within Cities

Adding specific emojis with city names usually unveil the local searches even when the meta tags and websites aren’t manually optimized for the same. Even though the knowledge graph isn’t perfected for returning searches, Google has certain methods of translating the emoji into relevant search terms. However, it is advisable to use the incognito window for doing the needful.

Moreover, if you are looking to experiment with the searches for knowing more about emoji SEO, it is advisable to opt for an emoji keyboard as more often than not, certain emojis are hard to decipher— even for Google. This is why a keyboard becomes necessary for firms— be it virtual or physical— for inculcating emoji-SEO and emoji-searches into the scheme of things.

Are Individuals Actually Searching with Emojis On-Board?

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that most tools meant for showing stats related to emoji-searches hardly reveal the desired set of results. The reason is that emojis are comparatively new as compared to some of the more established search metrics. However, these characters are getting a lot of importance when it comes to day to day conversations. Therefore, it is only a matter of time that businesses and clients get ranked for their emoji-based searches.

That said, some businesses with proper usage of words— as translated from the select emojis— are already getting ranked for emoji-centric searches. This in turn readily determines and enhances the SERP positions associated with the emoji SEO.

Richard Smith is a Mechatronics degree holder and a tested marketing professional with a decade long experience backing up his technical skills. He specializes in providing reliable branding options besides taking care of the PR needs of bigger firms. He holds a MS, from University of California at Berkeley in… View full profile ›